The present invention relates to an improved, self contained air conditioning unit, and more particularly, to an improved self contained, combined cooling and heating, air conditioning unit adapted for use in an apartment building, small office building, townhouse or the like wherein independent temperature or comfort control for the individual rooms or sets of rooms is desired, and wherein the exterior wall of the building comprises, to a relatively large extent, glass or windows.
In recent years, there has been a trend towards providing completely independent comfort controls for individual apartments, for the separate office suites in small office buildings, for townhouses and for the like. The trend has been accelerated due to the shift to condominium ownership of many such buildings, and additionally, due to the fact that owners have found it more convenient and economical to free themselves of the burdens of providing comfort acceptable to the satisfaction of all tenants in a building.
Generally in the past, such independent comfort control has been achieved by the utilization of conventional, through the wall, horizontally disposed air conditioning units on a room to room basis. Alternative air conditioning systems have been available but have a significant commercial disadvantage in that such systems require the remote installation of the condenser component on, for example, building balconies. This, of course, not only restricts the use of the balconies but in addition, detracts from the exterior appearance of the building. Also there have been commercially available air conditioning units which comprise a pair of separate cabinets stacked one on top of the other. These units are relatively wide and thus occupy a significant portion of the building perimeter wall. In addition, access to these units for maintenance and repair is only available from the exterior of the building.
Furthermore, in the construction of apartments, (high-rises, medium rises and garden types) economic considerations and zoning densities today dictate that the architect maximize the use of the building perimeter wall in terms of room allocation, and it is, therefore, imperative that the impact of the comfort control equipment on the perimeter "skin" or exterior wall of the building be held to the minimum. Glass is being more and more utilized by architects as the "skin" of buildings for economy reasons and for visual-spacial effects. Conventional, through the wall, air conditioning units present considerable design problems in buildings utilizing a glass "skin" both from a practical and aesthetic standpoints.
In addition, the conventional, through the wall air conditioning units present aesthetic and practical problems with respect to interior of the rooms. The units are frequently required to be mounted so that the grille tends to "stare" out into the room from the exterior wall which is often the focal wall of the room from the standpoint of visual and spacial emphasis. A separate air conditioning unit is generally required for each room in order to provide independent room comfort, particularly with respect to the rooms adjacent to the exterior wall of the building. Also if such a unit needs to be repaired, the entire unit must either be removed from the wall or access to the unit must be had from the exterior of the building.
The improved air conditioning unit of the present invention overcomes the aforementioned problems with respect to the utilization of conventional, through the wall, air conditioning units. The improved air conditioning unit comprises a vertically elongated, relatively narrow, generally rectangular cabinet which can be disposed in the exterior wall of the building between adjacent rooms or adjacent windows and which requires minimal space along the perimeter of the building. This, of course, maximizes design freedom for the architect since he can utilize full room, floor to ceiling, windows in designing the building. In addition, the improved air conditioning unit permits the air return and air supply openings to be directed in a plane parallel to the building perimeter or exterior wall as well as in a plane perpendicular to the building perimeter wall. This advantageous feature not only minimizes the unsightliness of the cabinet from an interior design standpoint, but also permits the improved air conditioning unit to deliver conditioned air to two side by side rooms when the cabinet is disposed in the interior wall between the rooms. Lastly, ready access to the working components of the improved air conditioning unit can be had from the interior of the building and without the necessity of damaging the surrounding decorative finish of the rooms by means of an access door in the side wall of the cabinet.
More specifically, the cabinet of the improved self contained, air conditioning unit of the present invention includes a vertically elongated, relatively narrow inside and outside facing end walls, relatively narrow top and bottom walls, and relatively wide side walls and is adapted to be disposed, at least in part, within a vertically elongated, generally rectangular, relatively narrow opening formed in the exterior building wall between adjacent pieces of glass or windows. The cabinet is vertically divided into an inside compartment and an outside compartment by a wall that prevents air communication between the compartments. The outside compartment is in air communication with the exterior of the building through an outside fresh air grille which is mounted in the outside facing end wall and which extends substantially the entire length and width of the outside facing end wall. The inside compartment is in air communication with the interior of the building through an air supply grille and an air return grille mounted in the cabinet adjacent to the top and bottom walls, respectively, of the cabinet. The air supply and air return grilles may be mounted in the inside facing end wall or in one or both of the side walls of the cabinet. This feature permits the improved unit to be utilized to provide conditioned air either directly to a single room and in planes parallel or perpendicular to the building perimeter wall or if the unit is positioned in an interior building wall, to two adjacent rooms, and thus, affords an architect or interior designer considerable design freedom in creating the interior designs of the apartments or offices.
The heating and cooling system components of the improved air conditioning unit are all disposed within the cabinet. The evaporator component and the air heaters are disposed in the inside compartment in the path of the air flow from the air return grille to the air supply grille. An air blower, also disposed in the inside compartment, provides for a controlled flow of air along this air flow path from the air return grille to and through the air supply grille. The compressor and condenser components are disposed in the outside compartment, with the condenser components being positioned adjacent to the outside fresh air grille and extending substantially the entire vertical length of the outside fresh air grille. An air fan unit is also disposed in the outside compartment so as to cause fresh air from the exterior of the building to pass across the condenser component.
The side wall of the cabinet includes a door which permits ready access to all the heating and cooling system components. Thus, these components can be easily repaired or replaced by a person working in the interior of the building without the need to cause damage to the decorative finish of the room.
In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved, self contained air conditioning unit for apartment buildings, small office buildings, townhouses and other similar buildings wherein the exterior or perimeter wall of the building is, to a large extent, glass or windows and wherein it is desired to provide independent temperature and comfort control for the individual rooms in the building. A related object of the present invention is to provide an improved self contained air conditioning unit which comprises a vertically elongated, relatively narrow, generally rectangular cabinet that is adapted to be disposed in a vertically elongated, relatively narrow, generally rectangular opening in the exterior building wall, that has a door permitting ready access, from the interior of the building, to the heating and cooling system components disposed in the cabinet and that can provide conditioned air in a plane parallel to the perimeter wall of the building and directly to two adjacent rooms.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following description of the preferred embodiment of this invention and a review of the accompanying drawings.